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about-us [2018/06/14 14:34]
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about-us [2018/11/04 14:03]
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-**About Us**+{{:​green-future.jpg?​200|Another World}}==== Future Historians: Is Another World REALLY Possible? ====
  
-{{:​green-future.jpg?​200|Another World}}====== Is Another World REALLY Possible? ======+**International Study Group and Collaborative Writing Project**\\  
 +sponsored by Marxist Education Project and Victor Serge Foundation / convened by Richard Greeman
  
-**International Study Group and Collaborative Writing Project** +=== About Us ===
-  +
-Sponsored by **Marxist Education Project** and **Victor Serge Foundation**+
  
-Convener**Richard Greeman**+Our ongoing Future Historians seminar has been meeting since September 2017. At present (November 2018) we are gathering from time to time via online teleconferencing across a dozen time zones – with participants from California to Moscow and points in between, including Paris, France; Rabat, Morocco; and Vermont, Washington DC, Chicago, and California. Videos of our past sessions are available on our [[https://​www.youtube.com/​channel/​UCPjQ6Ku50OfG1XP1j0OHEyQ/​videos?​disable_polymer=1|YouTube Channel]].
  
-//For full access to this Wiki or other questionssend email to [[mailto:AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com|AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com]]//+Our convener is **Richard Greeman**, veteran international socialist active in the US, France, Russia, Latin America, and North Africa; best known as translator and scholar of the Franco-Russian revolutionary writer Victor Serge (1890-1947). Future Historians include or have included: **Samuel Day Fassbinder**,​ author of //Greening the Academy// and scholar of Marx and utopianism; **Silvia Federici**veteran feminist, author of //Caliban and the Witch//; **Lola Girerd**, Paris, writer and social psychologist;​ **Jenny Greeman**, NY, actor and educator; **Alexei Gusev**, Moscow, Historian of Russian Oppositions,​ Chair of Praxis Center; **Julia Guseva**, Moscow, translator of Victor Serge, anarcho-syndicalist activist, co-founder of Praxis Center; **Harry Halpin**, Paris, Internet revolutionary and activist, team member World Wide Web Consortium, author of //Social Semantics: The Search for Meaning on the Web//; **Jason Hicks**, NYC transit worker, union activist, DSA member, philosopher;​ **Peter Hudis**, Chicago, Marxist-humanist philosopher and activist, author of //Marx’s Concept of the Alternative ​to Capitalism//​ and //Franz FanonPhilosopher of the Barricades//; **Maati Monjib**, Rabat, Morocco, historian of Africa and press-freedom activist, currently facing five years in prison as an opponent of the monarchy; **Fred Murphy**, NY, ecosocialism group leader at the Marxist Education Project and DSA climate-justice activist; **Anya Rebrii**, Ukraine/NY, activist and anthropology student; **David Schwartzman**, ​ biogeochemist,​ DC Green Party activist, author of “Solar Communism” and //Life, Temperature,​ and the Earth//; and **Brian Tokar**, Vermont, Institute of Social Ecology, activist, author of //Toward Climate Justice//​. ​
  
-==== Who We Are ====+At our international online seminars, we Future Historians imagine that we are living in a peaceful, egalitarian,​ sustainable world a century from now, in 2118. Our job is to put together a centennial history book for teenagers called **//THEN AND NOW//​**. ​We collectively research and discuss century-old Source Materials about capitalism’s catastrophes that were unfolding and impending in 2018, and the forms of resistance to them. Next, we weave these together to present an objective picture of the unsustainable THEN (2018). Finally, we extrapolate from the evidence to reconstruct the different paths that led from THEN to NOW (2118), under the heading HOW? The results may be conceived in the form of a grid, as detailed [[grid-guide|here]].
  
-Our ongoing Future Historians seminar has been meeting since September 2017. At present (June 2018) we are gathering biweekly via online teleconferencing across a dozen time zones – with participants ​from California ​to Moscow ​and points in between, including ​ParisFrance; RabatMorocco; ​and VermontWashington DCChicagoand CaliforniaVideos ​of our past sessions ​are available on our [[https://​www.youtube.com/​channel/​UCPjQ6Ku50OfG1XP1j0OHEyQ/​videos?​disable_polymer=1|YouTube Channel]].+In real life, we are individuals ​with varied viewpoints and backgrounds spread across the globe from L.A. to Moscow, including ​women and menstudentsa subway track worker, a few academics ​and various longtime socialists and radicals. Unlike many leftist groupswe don't denounce each other as traitors or deviantsalthough we have many differing views. Why? Wellto begin with we’ve all been dead for at least sixty yearsSo looking backward from the perspective ​of 2118, we are able see the different roads as complementary ones that led to the Emergence of new societies from the shell of the oldOur picture of the future world is inclusive (of everything but capitalism),​ rather than exclusive, pluralist rather than sectarian.
  
-Future Historians include: **Anya Rebrii**, Ukraine/NY, activist and anthropology student; **Lola Girerd**, Paris, writer and social psychologist;​ **Brian Tokar**, Vermont, Institute of Social Ecology, activist, author of //Toward Climate Justice//; **Jenny Greeman**, NY, actor and educator; **Peter Hudis**, Chicago, Marxist-humanist philosopher and activist, author of //Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism//​ and //Franz Fanon: Philosopher of the Barricades//;​ **Silvia Federici**, veteran feminist, author of //Caliban and the Witch//; **Jason Hicks**, NYC transit worker, union activist, DSA member, philosopher;​ **Julia Guseva**, Moscow, translator of Victor Serge, anarcho-syndicalist activist, co-founder of Praxis Center; **Harry Halpin**, Paris, Internet revolutionary and activist, team member World Wide Web Consortium, author of //Social Semantics: The Search for Meaning on the Web//; **Alexei Gusev**, Moscow, Historian of Russian Oppositions,​ Chair of Praxis Center; **Maati Monjib**, Rabat, Morocco, historian of Africa and press-freedom activist, currently facing five years in prison as an opponent of the monarchy; **David Schwartzman**, ​ biogeochemist,​ DC Green Party activist, author of “Solar Communism” and //Life, Temperature,​ and the Earth//; **Samuel Day Fassbinder**,​ author of //Greening the Academy// and scholar of Marx and utopianism; and **Fred Murphy**, ecosocialism group leader at the Marxist Education Project and DSA climate-justice activist. Our convener is **Richard Greeman**, veteran international socialist active in the US, France, Russia, Latin America, and North Africa; best known as translator and scholar of the Franco-Russian revolutionary writer Victor Serge (1890-1947) +Our process: examine the historical evidence and collectively piece together a plausible picture of our possible better world and the roads that led to it. Our only rule: no gods, no extra-terrestials.
- +
-At our international online seminars, we Future Historians imagine that we are living in a peaceful, egalitarian,​ sustainable world a century from now, in 2118. Our job is to put together a centennial history book for teenagers called **//THEN AND NOW//**. We collectively research and discuss century-old Source Materials about capitalism’s catastrophes that were unfolding and impending in 2018, and the forms of resistance to them. Next, we weave these together to present an objective picture of the unsustainable THEN (2018). Finally, we extrapolate from the evidence to reconstruct the different paths that led from THEN to NOW (2118), under the heading HOW? +
- +
-In real life, we are individuals with varied viewpoints and backgrounds spread across the globe from L.A. to Moscow, including women and men, students, a subway track worker, a few academics and various longtime socialists and radicals. Unlike many leftist groups, we don't denounce each other as traitors or deviants, although we have many differing views. Why? Well, to begin with we’ve all been dead for at least sixty years. So looking backward from the perspective of 2118, we are able see the complimentarity of the different roads (for example “reform” and “revolution”) that led to the Emergence of new societies from the shell of the old. Our picture of the future world is inclusive (of everything but capitalism),​ rather than exclusive, pluralist rather than sectarian. +
- +
-Our process: examine the historical evidence and collectively piece together a plausible picture of our possible better world and the roads that led to it. One rule: no gods, no extra-terrestials.+
  
 Our goal: create a history textbook for the teenagers of 2018, a utopian work in the tradition of Bellamy'​s //Looking Backward// (1888) and Morris'​s //News from Nowhere//, books whose popularity helped bring to life a new socialist movement at the end of the 19th century. We aspire to a fictional ecotopia with the potential to go viral and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our goal: create a history textbook for the teenagers of 2018, a utopian work in the tradition of Bellamy'​s //Looking Backward// (1888) and Morris'​s //News from Nowhere//, books whose popularity helped bring to life a new socialist movement at the end of the 19th century. We aspire to a fictional ecotopia with the potential to go viral and become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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 Join us in betting on a possible future – even if the odds are a hundred to one! In a world spinning madly towards perdition, what have we got to lose? Join us in betting on a possible future – even if the odds are a hundred to one! In a world spinning madly towards perdition, what have we got to lose?
  
-==== Format ==== +=== How to Participate ===
- +
-This is a “hybrid” project, combining readings and online discussions of each session'​s TOPIC with a live, biweekly international meeting via online teleconferencing. YouTube recordings of our sessions are posted on our [[http://​bit.ly/​futurehist-vids|YouTube channel]]. +
- +
-Readings are uploaded to the Future Historians Dropbox. Participants prepare readings and deliver short reports on the week’s topic, and we all discuss it. Between live sessions, further discussions take place online both via comments on the documents and through a Google Groups listserv. +
- +
-==== How to Participate ===+
- +
-You can participate in a variety of ways, depending on your energy and interest. The Future Historians International Research and Collaborative Writing Project makes use of a variety of media platforms including this Wiki, a Dropbox account, and a Google Groups listerv - details below.+
  
-THIS WIKI is open for all to read. It is a work in progress. The draft of the proposed history book is divided into TOPICSlisted in the left-hand menuEach of the TOPICS is (or will be) divided into three sectionsTHENNOW and HOW (they can be read in any order)+You can participate ​in a variety ​of waysdepending on your energy and interestThe Future Historians International Research and Collaborative Writing Project makes use of a variety of media platforms including this Wiki, a Dropbox account, a [[https://​www.facebook.com/​groups/​FutureHistorians/​|Facebook group]], and a [[https://​groups.google.com/​forum/#​!forum/​future-historians|Google Groups]] listerv.
  
-These somewhat arbitrary divisionsgrouped into dozen or more TOPICS, permit us to organize ​the results ​of our research, our discussions,​ our visions of possible better worlds, and our extrapolations of roads leading to themThey represent ​the basic bricks that will form the completed work. Once they are in place, we can revisit, develop, and synthesize them.+THIS WIKI is open for all to read. It is a work in progressorganized as [[the-grid|grid]] that references pages in a draft of the proposed history bookSee the [[grid-guide|Guide]] for further information.
  
-If you want to contribute to this Wiki, we invite to become an active member of the seminar by sending an email to us at [[mailto:​AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com|AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com]]. If you prefer not to join but have suggestions,​ send them to the same address and they will be welcomed, discussed, and perhaps incorporated.+If you would like to contribute to this Wiki, we invite to become an active member of the seminar by sending an email to us at [[mailto:​AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com|AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com]]. If you prefer not to join but have suggestions,​ send them to the same address and they will be welcomed, discussed, and perhaps incorporated.
  
 Those with a special interest in one or more Topics are also welcome to join us as guests for an individual session. Again, please email us at [[mailto:​AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com|AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com]] and introduce yourself. Those with a special interest in one or more Topics are also welcome to join us as guests for an individual session. Again, please email us at [[mailto:​AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com|AnotherWorldNYC@gmail.com]] and introduce yourself.
about-us.txt · Last modified: 2019/07/10 13:44 by admin